Les Sanglots Longs
by Wyoming
Summary: Calleigh was at her lowest....just when she least expects it someone comes along to help her, but how long will it last? [SC] with hints of EC COMPLETED October 20th, 2006
1. Beginning

Title: Le Sanglots Longs  
Author: CSI Catts  
Fandom: CSI Miami  
Pairing: undecided  
Rating: T (language)  
Warnings: none (yet)

Calleigh Duquesne was at her lowest. She had to let the man she knew committed a homicide free because she didn't have enough evidence that was substantial. Her father had died a few weeks back, heart attack. Everyone wanted something from her. She felt like she was being pulled by the arms between people who wanted her for some reason. The lab was pulling at one arm because they were shorthanded. Tim had quit after his near-death experience at the jewelry store, and they hadn't found a replacement. Her friends and family were tugging at her other arm. Her family wanted her for support, and her friends wanted to get her out of her workplace and make her have a good time. She didn't know what she wanted anymore. She wanted to help out with the lab, but she needed some time to do something that she wanted to do.

As for right now, Calleigh stared into space at her desk, thinking of that day that could have changed her life forever. She'd confessed to Tim that she loved him. She'd told him face to face that she was in love with him, and he laughed in her face and told her to stop joking around. Calleigh had taken a sick day the next morning, and that was when Tim realized that she had been serious. He tried calling her, and he even tried going straight to her house, but she'd already gotten out of the house, and turned off her cell phone. That was the day that he'd almost been shot at the jewelry store. As soon as Calleigh heard about it she knew that Tim would quit. She took one more sick day and then came in to the crime lab the next day, only to find Tim actually gone.

Since then, he tried to call her at work, at home, and on her cell phone, but she never answered them. She was too hurt by him to talk to him. He was the cause of all her pain and stress. Horatio, being the CSI supervisor, knew all about what was going on, and when Tim called him, asking him to forward him to Calleigh, Horatio wouldn't let him. He was fathering Calleigh, and keeping her safe from the pain he knew Tim would cause her if he talked to her. But today, Horatio was in the trace lab, working on one of their cases when the receptionist picked up the phone, and the woman on the phone was asked to be transferred to Calleigh. She quickly handed the phone to Tim, so that he could talk to her.

Calleigh looked down at the angrily flashing red light that told her she had a call on line 2. She sighed and picked up the phone. She hated being at a desk, mainly because she hated paperwork. She announced herself, and gasped when she heard the voice on the other line.

"Nice of you to finally answer my call Calleigh, I've been trying to get a hold of you since you left."

Calleigh didn't know what to say or do. She had been so hurt by Tim that she never wanted to talk to him again. Hearing his voice was just a reminder to her that he had hurt her so badly. She swallowed hard and finally found her voice.

"Well when someone laughs in your face and tells you to stop joking when she just told you that she loved you pretty much doesn't qualify you as the person I really want to ever talk to again," she said firmly.

"Calleigh, I'm sorry, I didn't think you were serious. If I had known then I never would have said anything like that, I'm so sorry."

Calleigh wasn't buying it, he'd hurt her way too much for her to forgive him now. "Why are you calling me Tim?" she asked finally.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry, and that I wish things could have gone differently."

"So now what Tim? What are you going to do to fix this?" she asked, on the verge of breaking down.

"I can't do anything about it Calleigh, I'm sort of……..engaged.," he said hesitantly.

Calleigh felt like she'd just been shot in the heart, in fact, she wished that she would just get shot right now, she hated him at this point.

"Calleigh? Calleigh, come on, you wouldn't answer my phone calls, you avoided me completely, there's nothing I can do about it if you constantly-"

Tim heard the click on the phone, and took the cell away from his ear and gave it back to Erin. "She won't talk to me," he said lightly. Erin just nodded and wrapped her arms around him, comforting him. She knew that Calleigh was a close friend to him, and having her angry with him didn't make him happy.

Calleigh on the other hand was devastated. She rested her head down on the desk and let it all soak in before finally letting her tears fly. It was then that Horatio showed up at her door. He always had a mysteriously sneaky way of showing up at the right moments. Cal should have known that he was standing at her door right now, but nonetheless she kept her head down, trying to play off that she was sleeping, when her boss knew she was not.

He opened the door quietly, and sneakily walked around her, looking down at the half finished paperwork that was on her desk. Horatio softly placed a hand on her back to comfort her, which made her shoot up and look at him. She stood up and quickly wiped her tears away. She sniffled a bit and concentrated her gaze to the floor.

"Horatio, I'm sorry, I was just-"

Horatio put a hand up to stop her and tilted his head to the right, like he always did. "Calleigh, what's wrong?" he asked, not knowing that Tim had finally gotten a hold of her.

"He's……engaged," she told him, keeping her gaze to the floor.

Horatio had known that this day would come. Tim was always ready to move forward with his life, but Calleigh liked to live in the moment, and take it for all she could. This was not one of those moments.

Horatio sighed a little and pulled her into a tight hug. Eric walked in, in search of Calleigh's results, but found that it wasn't the right time to ask. He crept in a little, wondering if he could help. He placed a hand on Calleigh's back, having an idea of what was going on. Unlike Calleigh and Horatio, Tim told Eric everything. He knew that Calleigh had told him that she loved him, and he knew that Tim was engaged. Personally, Eric thought that Tim hadn't been fair to Cal. He hadn't even given her a chance, and he'd told him that, but Tim hadn't even been listening.

Calleigh turned away from Horatio, to Eric. She slipped out of Horatio's arms and into Eric's. Calleigh had always had this little "thing" with Eric. She wasn't sure if it was just flirty, or if maybe it was more than that, but something about the way she felt when he wrapped his toned arms around her really made her feel safe.

Eric shushed her and whispered small words of comfort into her ear as she cried on his shoulder. He rubbed her back and nodded a little at Horatio, nonverbally telling him that he could take care of it from here. As Horatio left, Eric took his chance, and kissed her forehead. He thought that maybe she would push away, or even smack him, but she didn't. Instead, she cuddled closer to him, using him as a human tissue.

"Cal, come on now…..Calleigh, would you like me to take you home?" he asked her.

Calleigh shook her head. "I can't……..he'll call me again," she said through tears.

"What about my place then?" he asked her, desperate to find a way to help. To his surprise, Calleigh agreed and sniffled a bit. He took his keys out of his pocket and then let go of her so that they could walk down the hallways, but she managed to wrap her arm around him while they walked, feeling insecure at the moment. He gladly kept his arm around her as they walked out to the car. There was something about having her on his arm that made him feel better about himself.

When they finally made it to the car, they were already soaked. It had been pouring out. Calleigh liked it because it hid her tears. It took them about ten minutes to get to Eric's apartment, and Eric, being the gentleman that he was, ran around the Calleigh's side of the car and tried to help her out. She opened the door and put her foot down on the metal bar of the elevated truck. She wasn't tall enough to reach the ground first. She found herself slipping on the bar, since it was already wet, and Calleigh had heels on, like she always did. Eric caught her, and they found themselves very close to each other's faces.

Calleigh swallowed a bit. Before either one of them knew it, she found herself leaning in farther, and placing a light kiss on Eric's lips. She was surprised when he didn't pull away, but instead deepened the kiss. She smirked a bit through his lips and finally pulled away. She didn't know what to say, but she was smiling, which was worth a million words.

Eric smiled down on her and then kissed her again. He'd never actually kissed in the rain, but his first was definitely nothing disappointing. Calleigh finally pulled them apart and grabbed his house. "I think we should get inside before I start to wilt," she joked as she walked with him up to the door.

Little did either of them know that Tim was inside, looking for a friend to talk to, since Eric had thrown her ring in his face. She'd cheated on him, Tim found out, and Erin pretty much said "screw you" and ran off.. After he had finished with Erin's cell phone, he saw her get another call, and she'd ignored it. He took the phone from her and saw that "Bobby" was calling her. He called the number back, getting the answer of "I tired to call you sooner sweetcakes, but I was busy, how are you baby?" and Tim was more than a little upset, but now he could give Calleigh the chance that she so deserved. He'd known that Calleigh had dated on and off with guys, and probably slept with some of the ones that had stayed around a bit longer, but he could only assume.

When Tim heard the door close, he heard a small giggle as well. He knew that Eric couldn't have been the one to giggle, so he just figured it was one of his weekly girlfriends. When he saw Calleigh backing into the living room, with her lips on Eric's he cleared his throat and folded his arms.

Calleigh turned around and felt her heart drop into her stomach. The first thing that popped into her mind was the question of why he was even here. When Eric looked up, he figured that Erin just had some friends over like she usually did, which was why he gave him the key to his apartment, a place to relax without any women. It was a bit of an awkward moment, but Eric knew what he needed to do to protect Calleigh. He pulled her into his arms and looked at Tim. "What's goin on man?" he asked, as if he wasn't even in the presence of Calleigh right now.

Tim was just a little more than pissed off. He looked angrily at Calleigh, who had her head turned so that she could see him. "Can I have a word with Calleigh please?" he asked. Eric looked down at Calleigh, who took a deep breath and then nodded. She gave him a light kiss and then walked off into the den with Tim.

"I was coming here to tell Eric that I'm not engaged anymore, she cheated on me, and when I found out, she left. She didn't want me, so I figured hey, now I can give Calleigh the chance that she deserves. But no, I come here to find out that you're with Eric, and that you're messing around with him," at this point, Calleigh was getting angry. "Are you sure you haven't been sleeping with him the whole time? Huh Calleigh? Was I just your little playtoy? I know you dated all those guys since you told me you loved me, I find everything out."

Calleigh was extremely angry, and felt immensely minimized. He had pretty much just told her that she was his second choice. "Oh no…..no no, Tim. You can't call me a whore. I told you I loved you, which was a huge hurdle for me to jump. You laughed in my face Tim, LAUGHED IN MY FACE! Do you know how much that hurt me? Then you disappear, and all of a sudden you try sending me all these notes through work, and you try to call me. I thought maybe that you would get the hint Tim, that I didn't want to talk to you because of how much you hurt me. Then I go out to try and find someone to fill the crater in my heart that you left, and now you're telling me that I'm a whore? No, you can't call me a whore. I won't settle for second best Tim, you laughed in my face, now I'm turning around and shoving it right back up your ass," she said, then headed for the door. Tim called after her, but she ignored it and went back out to Eric.  
"Eric….."

Eric was sitting on the couch, with an angry disposition on his face. "Eric?" Cal asked.

"So are you going to go run off with him now?" he asked her. Calleigh wondered what had gotten into him.

"No, of course not I-"

"Save the bullshit Calleigh, I know how much you love him, I should have known that this would happen."

"Eric Ple-"

"Shut it Calleigh, just get out of my house and go run off with Tim."

Calleigh looked at him hatefully, with tears in her eyes. "Fine, but just remember that you're the one that pushed me away," she told him as she turned and walked out the door. A few seconds later, Tim came out of the den. He looked to Eric, who looked like he was about ready to murder someone.

"Where'd your little girlfriend go?" Tim asked, with a not-so-friendly tone.

"What are you talking about, aren't you two going to go out now?" he asked the shorter man.

"No, she blew me off, told me that I'd hurt her too much for me to date her. She said I thought that she was second best, which she's not………anymore."

Eric stood there dumbfounded. Tim was a little confused, thus tilting his head. "Eric?"

Eric looked down at the ground. "I pretty much just told her to shove it."

Tim ran a hand over her face. "Great, now she'll be angry at both of us."

Eric shook his head and went out the door. He looked down the street and found that Calleigh was no where to be seen. He got into his car, and motioned for Tim to get into his. They had to find her. Eric drove around for a few minutes, as did Tim. He didn't even bother to call her because she'd blocked his number after he'd quit. Eric tried her, but she didn't answer, which wasn't a surprise to him. Calleigh was a stubborn southern girl, and it took a great deal of persuasion to get her to cave. Cal wasn't going to answer her cell phone anytime soon.

It took Eric about ten minutes to find Calleigh. She was walking towards her house, which was a good ten minutes away by car. Not to mention she was in heels. She was crying, which Eric also wasn't surprised about. Calleigh heard him pull up, but did not stop walking.

"Calleigh! Calleigh!" Eric called from his car. He kept the car moving so that he could keep up with her. She looked over to him with a tear-soaked face, and then back down at the ground. She wanted him to know that she saw him, but she also wanted to give off that "I'm pissed at you" vibe, which Calleigh did all too well.

It was still raining out, but not as hard as it had been. Eric sighed and parked his car, he hated himself for this. He ran up behind her and she immediately stopped. "Get away from me Eric," she said, in both a shaky and angry voice. She was crying buckets, but her tears were hid by the rain.

"Calleigh, sweetie, come on….." Eric prodded.

Calleigh shook her head and looked down at the ground. Eric took it as his chance, and wrapped his arms around her. She pounded her fists on his chest, and yelled a little, but she eventually calmed down and broke down into hysterical, long sobs. Eric wrapped his arms around her right when Tim showed up. He'd thought that Calleigh wasn't for him, and that he wasn't' meant to be with her, but he was angry when she was with other people, besides him.

Calleigh looked over at Tim, and stared at him for a minute before wrapping her arms around Eric and holding herself close to him. She looked up at Eric and placed a hand on his cheek. He leaned down and kissed her lightly. He hadn't noticed that Tim was right there, and he didn't much care. It was only when he heard the sound of his door shutting that the Cuban looked over towards him, breaking the kiss. Tim stood about 20 feet away in the rain, looking at them from a distance. Eric looked down at Calleigh and bit his lips hard.

"Calleigh, you love him," he told her.

Calleigh sighed and nodded. "I can't help it," she responded.

Eric nodded. He knew it would have ended anyway, Calleigh didn't love him, and she never would. Eric sighed and gave her forehead a kiss. "Go," he said simply, nodding off in Tim's direction. Calleigh looked up at him.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I'm sorry for yelling at you, now go," Eric prodded.

Calleigh nodded and gave Eric a kiss on the lips before going over to Tim. She stood about three feet from him. "So what now Tim?"

Tim shifted in his spot a little and then looked up at Calleigh. "Would you like to talk somewhere?" he asked shyly.

Calleigh nodded a little and walked over to him. She looked up at him and swallowed hard. She was still crying softly, not that anyone would know because of the rain. They were both soaked, and should have probably gotten into the car, but Tim felt guilty now, and as she went to walk past him, he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. Cal wrapped her arms around him as well and closed her eyes, savoring the moment as if it were her last.

Tim held her close, burying his face into her shoulder as they hugged. Calleigh was lightly crying into his chest, holding onto him tightly as well.

"Calleigh, I'm so sorry," Tim whispered to her, his voice just barely above a whisper. He hated that this was how he saw Calleigh for the first time in a few months. As she cried in his arms, he looked over to Eric, who was getting into his car. He pulled up to them and looked at Tim.

"Take care of her, okay?" he said lightly. Tim nodded in response and then kissed Calleigh's forehead, trying to calm her down while Eric drove away. Calleigh finally let up on the sobs and pulled away from Tim.

"Come on Cal, let's get you home."

TBC...


	2. Twist

In a matter of about an hour, Tim had a change of clothes and Calleigh was in her pajamas. They had stopped at Tim's apartment and then went to Calleigh's. Now they sat on the couch, a water for Calleigh and an iced tea for Tim. She would have offered him a beer had she thought it was an appropriate time to offer one. They sat there in silence for a good five minutes before Tim finally spoke up.

"Calleigh, I'm sorry for laughing in your face, I'm sorry for leaving you, I'm sorry for not giving you a chance. I don't know what else to tell you except that I'm sorry, and I want to give us a chance, if you'll let me. I know I let you down before, but now that I think of it, I didn't even love Erin. I think she was only a distraction. She distracted me from thinking about you. After you'd left, I always thought about you, I never saw you again and it bothered me. You wouldn't answer your phone calls or your door. You left me in the dark Calleigh, I'm sorry for putting you in that position."

Calleigh was about tiered of hearing Tim's excuses. After what he had said to her back at Eric's, she wasn't sure if she could ever forgive him, but one thing she knew for sure was that she was never going to stop loving him. She looked down and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "That day, when I told you I loved you, I was almost positive you were going to say you loved me back. When you laughed at me, it was a big slap in the face. I felt like my whole world had collapsed right on top of me, and no one was helping to pick up the pieces. I had to do it all by myself. I went home and cried until I fell asleep, I was depressed, I thought about moving away. I thought about quitting my job, and moving far away, but I didn't. You just………you hurt me so much Tim," she finally finished.

Tim looked at her sadly and sat there in silence for a few minutes. After a while he finally mustered up a few words that he knew probably wouldn't help Calleigh's broken heart. "Calleigh……I'm so sorry, I love you," he said lightly, not even realizing what he had just said.

Calleigh looked up at him with tear soaked eyes. "What did you just say?"

Tim thought about it for a minute, realizing what he had said. He pondered on it and then nodded, believing what he had just subconsciously said. "I said I love you Calleigh," he repeated.

The Bullet Girl sniffled again and then nodded. "That was all you had to say the first time Tim," she informed him, smiling.

A WEEK LATER

A week to Calleigh seemed like a year. Within a week she'd started dating Tim, moved in with him, but yet they hadn't even kissed yet. Neither of them knew why, but there just seemed to be some kind of barrier there. Every time they would get close, Tim would pull away. There was just something that Calleigh didn't like about this. Something didn't feel right. It was like he was trying to hide something, and she wanted to know what it was. But today, Calleigh was going to figure it out.

They were sitting silently on the couch, Tim's arm causally wrapped around Calleigh, and her head was resting lightly on Tim's shoulder.

"What are you hiding from me Tim?" she asked him, point blank.

Tim flinched away from her and looked at her funky. "What the hell are you talking about Cal?" he asked.

Calleigh looked up at him, almost as if saying 'you know damn well', but she obviously needed to explain. "Well, every time I try to kiss you, you pull away. Every time I tell you I love you your eyes dart around the room looking at everything but my eyes. You just don't seem like you love me Tim, what's wrong?" she asked him.

"No Calleigh, I do love you it's just……I lied to you," he said regrettably.

Calleigh looked confused. "About what Tim?" she asked.

"Erin didn't cheat on me. When I finished talking to you on the phone, I took a walk, when I came back, she was dead Calleigh. Someone came looking for me, and she's the one that got shot. It all happened so fast, and then I came to talk to Eric about it and you came in, and……..I just overreacted. But the thing is, when Erin died, the only thing I could think of was you. I thought of how that could have been you, you would be on Alexx's table with a toe tag. Every time I look at you I think of how it should have been you, and how I'm so glad it was Erin and not you. That's horrible of me to think. I was engaged to the woman and all I can think of is that I'm glad it's not you."

Calleigh was baffled. She had no idea that Tim had gone through that. She looked up at him sadly and cupped a hand to his cheek. "At least she died thinking that someone loved her," she said lightly. "If she thinks the same way I do, then she probably thought that you made the last few days of her life the best ever."

Tim placed his hand over hers as a tear slid down his cheek. "I love you so much Calleigh," he said shakily.

Calleigh nodded and closed her eyes a bit. "I know you do baby, I know, I love you too," she said as she wrapped her arms around him. That was when Tim started to sob. To him, just the idea that it could have been her killed him inside. Cal let him cry on her shoulder, just as he would have let her do if it were the other way around. It was then that Calleigh lifted up Tim's chin, and gave him a soft kiss. She pulled away and pressed her forehead to his. "It's okay Tim," she cooed.

If Calleigh knew how to do anything, it was to calm him down. The brown haired man had always had somewhat of a short temper, and with just a few words from Calleigh, he would be calm. There was just always something about her that cheered him up. When he thought about when he'd laughed in her face, he thought about why he did it. And at this exact moment he knew why. He was afraid. He was afraid that he was going to do something to hurt her, but little did he know that he'd hurt her the only way he possibly could have in that situation. He hated himself for it, and wanted to make it up to her.

After a few minutes of crying on Calleigh's shoulder, the elder CSI pulled away and looked back into her eyes. "I'm sorry Calleigh," he said lightly. Before Cal had a chance to tell him it was okay, he leaned in and gave him the most passionate kiss of her life. She'd never been kissed like this before. Mainly because she'd never kissed a man that truly loved her back. Little did Calleigh know what she was getting herself into…….

A few minutes after Tim and Calleigh had fallen asleep that night, Tim's beeper went off. It was about midnight, and Calleigh had no idea why his beeper was going off when he wasn't even working for CSI anymore.

"Baby, I've got to go," he said to her. "Do me a favor baby, if someone knocks on the door, don't open it. Okay? Don't let anyone in, I love you," he said quickly, and before Cal even had a chance to question him, he was out the door.

Calleigh sighed a little and listened as his car pulled out of the driveway and sped into the city. She brushed off all of the questions running through her head and fell asleep again.

It wasn't until about two in the morning that Calleigh was interrupted from her slumber again. There was a loud and angry knock at the door. Calleigh knew that Tim had told her not to open the door, so she picked up the phone and called him immediately. He answered, but by the time Calleigh picked up, the man at the door was now standing over her. "Where is the package?" he demanded. Calleigh looked up at him.

"Package? What package?" she asked him, facing a .9 mm in the face. Her voice was trembling, and Tim was talking frantically over the phone, telling her that he would be there soon, but Calleigh didn't hear a word of it. The man slapped her hard, causing the phone to hit the ground, and Calleigh to fall out of the bed. He picked up the phone and spoke into it.

"You have twenty minutes to get back here Tim Speedle, or I get to have a fun time with the pretty girl," he said, before closing the phone. Calleigh looked up at the man, with frightened eyes.

"I know I told him twenty minutes, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him will it?" he asked her with a smirk.

Calleigh shook her head. "No, please don't," she pleaded. She was crying hysterically, which was apparently what the man wanted.

"Too bad little missy, you're too pretty to pass up."

About fifteen minutes later, Tim arrived, finding his door busted in. He followed muffled voices to the kitchen to find Calleigh tied up to a chair. All she had on was her bra and panties, and she looked terrified.

"Julien….." Tim said, looking at the man as he came around the corner.

Julien laughed a little and walked closer to him. "Well well, isn't it Timothy Speedle, the negotiator. Where is my lovely package Tim?" he asked.

Tim shook his head. "I told you you couldn't have it Julien, it's illegal, and I promised you I wouldn't put you away if you just let me take it."

"Well well Mr. Speedle, that's not the way I heard it. You said to me that if I didn't commit any more murders, then I could have the package, and stay free, but we've apparently had a misunderstanding," he said as he took out his gun again, which made Calleigh start to shake a bit. Tim looked at her, and his heart broke immediately.

"Let her go…….please," he told him.

Julien just laughed a little. "Or what? Are you going to sick one of your little CSI friends on me?" he asked.

Tim shook his head and threw his cell phone on the ground. "There, now I can't call anyone, I don't have my gun with me, and no one needs to get hurt, now just put down the gun, and I'll get it for you," he said calmly.

Julien shook his head and put the gun to Calleigh's temple. "No can do Mr. Speedle, either you give me the package right now, or you get to investigate this pretty woman's murder," he threatened.

Cal was crying as she watched Tim sigh and go to the attic. He came back down with a small envelope in his hand. Speed gave it to Julien and stepped back. Julien inspected it, and then nodded. "If anyone ever gets wind of this Speedle, I swear to God I'll come back for her, and next time I won't wait for you," he told him as he briskly walked out the door and slammed it behind him.

Tim rushed over to Calleigh and took the tape off of her mouth, and untied her. "Baby, I'm so sorry," he told her softly. "I'm so sorry."

Calleigh was heavily crying, so much that she couldn't talk right now. She felt so violated, and so scared that she didn't know what to do right now.

"Baby, what did he do to you?" Tim asked her. Cal looked down at him, and looked at the bruises all over her legs, and her wrists. She looked back down at him, and he knew. He didn't have to ask anymore, and Calleigh didn't have to explain.

"Calleigh, I'm so sorry, I swear, I'll never let anything happen to you again, I'm never leaving you," he assured her. Calleigh just nodded and wrapped her arms around him tightly as she sobbed. Tim held her close and kissed her cheek, neck, and temple. He rubbed her back, and tried to soothe her. He felt horrible for what he'd done, and he was going to make sure that he never left Calleigh by herself again.

After a good ten minutes, Calleigh had told him that she was sleepy, and wanted to go to bed. Tim picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. He laid her down gently on the bed and kissed her forehead. She fell asleep almost instantly after Tim cuddled up with her and wrapped an arm around her. Doing that made her feel safe, which is why she probably fell asleep so easily. Tim wondered how long it would be before something really terrible happened to him. He wondered if maybe he should hurt Calleigh to save her.

Over the next few weeks, Tim and Calleigh's relationship was full of fights, and arguments. Calleigh was at the point where she was so fed up with it, that she broke it off with Tim, and started seeing Eric again. She had been back at her old apartment for about two weeks before Eric came back into her life. Calleigh would cry when she was at home by herself, but now that Eric was with her, she was happier, and enjoyed her life more. She'd once again cut off contact with Tim. He didn't try to call her, and she didn't try to call him. Eric and Tim still remained best friends, even if now they weren't totally honest with each other. Eric didn't tell Tim that he was dating Calleigh, and obviously he had no way of hearing from Calleigh about it either.

While watching a weekly baseball game, Eric and Tim sat on the couch with a beer in hand, talking about past girlfriends and experiences that they've had with them. Everything was good, that is, until Calleigh came into the conversation.

"She told you about that?" Tim asked, not believing that Calleigh would have mentioned anything to Eric about being tied up in a chair.

"Yeah man, she told me everything. She said that after you got her out of the chair and put her to sleep you'd been nothing but an ass to her. She swears you did it on purpose, that you pushed her out of your life. But I don't know what to believe man, did you?" he asked.

Tim's heart almost stopped beating. She really had figured it out. But he couldn't tell anyone what he was doing, which was why he had to push Calleigh out of the house. He didn't want her hurt. "No man, you've got it all wrong, she constantly fought with me. I tried to breakup with her, but she insisted that she stayed, to try to work things out. She just didn't understand that I couldn't have her there. She was in the way."

"In the way?" Eric asked, not being able to believe what he was hearing. "She's not an object Tim, she's a person. She has a job and a life, unlike you."

"I have a job!" Tim defended, and soon cursed himself for saying it. No one was supposed to even know he had a job, he wasn't supposed to let that secret out to anyone.

Eric was baffled. He'd never mentioned anything about a job. "What do you do?" he asked.

Tim sighed. "Listen, you cannot tell this to ANYONE, not even your closest loved one," he said, which immediately made Eric think about Calleigh. "I've been working for the FBI, I'm an undercover agent, I negotiate with killers that plan mass murders."

Eric's eyes were wide. "So that's why you pushed her away," he said, immediately putting together the pieces. "You didn't want her to be put in dangers way, that's why you said "in the way" because she was in the way of danger," he said, putting everything together, and noticing that all of this actually made sense. "Sorry man," Eric said lightly. "If I had known-"

"It's alright, I just don't want Calleigh hurt, even though she already is hurt, I don't want her to have to put herself in danger because of me, it's not fair to her."

Eric nodded. He was right. The only thing was, Tim didn't know that Eric was going out with her now. He knew that he was the second choice over Tim, but he didn't care, he was helping her and that was all that mattered.

Eric's phone rang.

"Girlfriend of the week?" Tim asked.

Eric shrugged. "I've actually had a girlfriend for three weeks," he said, hinting to Tim that it was Calleigh, but Tim didn't pick up on it.

"Hey baby…………yeah, I'll do that. You pick out the movie and I'll pick out the snacks, okay? I'll be there in about an hour, love you sweetheart………okay, bye," Eric said, before shutting the phone.

"So she lives with you," Tim gathered.

Eric nodded. "Yeah, she is,"

"She hot?"

Eric looked to him and shook his head. "No, she's beautiful," he corrected.

Tim nodded a little. "What's she like?"

Eric sighed, knowing that this wasn't going to end well.

"She's got long blonde hair, green eyes, about 5'2, she's got an amazingly bright personality, and she works at the Miami Dade Crime Lab as a ballistics expert," he said with a sigh.

Tim's face was blank. "It's Calleigh," he said, defeated. He never thought that Calleigh would go back to Eric, but apparently he was wrong. He couldn't wrap this around his head. He still loved her, but he couldn't put her in danger with his job. "Could you tell her for me please?" he asked.

Eric was confused. "Tell her what?"

"Tell her why I broke up with her, and why I can't be with her. And tell her…………tell her I still love her," he said lightly.

Eric nodded a little. He was going to lose his girlfriend over this……..again, but Calleigh deserved everything she wanted. And he knew she wanted Tim. 


	3. Conclusion

Eric came back into the apartment, after stopping at a bar, with a bit of a frown on his face. He walked into the living room to find the blonde that he expected to be there, but he didn't expect her to be in tears. She still had the phone in her hand, obviously there was someone on the other end. She wasn't talking, just crying. Eric looked down at her. "Baby, what's wrong?" he asked, worried.

"It's Tim," she said lightly. What Eric didn't know, was that in the hours he was spending at the bar, Tim had been victim to a breaking and entering. The same guy that had threatened Calleigh had Tim, and he knew exactly who to go to, to get exactly what he wanted. She hit a button and handed the phone to Eric.

"Hello Ms. Duquesne, I have your precious boyfriend here with me. In order for you to set him free, you have to trade me. Your life for his, meet me in Tim's basement in an hour, and no police, or else he gets it!"

Eric brought the phone down from his ear and looked down at a sobbing Calleigh. He bent down and wrapped his arms around her. "We're gonna get him out of there, okay? Okay Calleigh?" he asked. Calleigh nodded and then let go of him. "When did you get that message?" Eric questioned.

"About 45 minutes ago," Calleigh squeaked. She got up and took a deep breath. "I have to save him," she said.

Eric shook his head. "You're both going to get out of this alive, you're both going to get back together, and you're both going to live happily, okay?"

Calleigh gave him a blank look and then tilted her head a bit. "But Eric, what about-"

"Don't worry about me Calleigh, all I ever wanted was friendship from you, I just can't stand seeing you like this sweetheart," he said as he walked up to her and placed his hand on the small of her back. "Come on, let's go save Tim, okay?" he asked. "Listen, Tim has an emergency escape in his basement that is hidden, it's got a one way mirror into the basement. Tim installed it after he enrolled into the FBI. He used it as practice."

Calleigh looked so out of the loop. "Tim was in the FBI? Is that why that guy is after him? What didn't he tell me?"

"Calleigh, let him explain when we save him alright, I'm gonna go down to that room, all you need to do is get me a good shot. The wall has a fake gun hanging on it, I know you can tell a fake gun from a real one, just get me a good shot, and everything will go as planned okay?"

Calleigh nodded and took a deep breath. She ran to the car with him, gun in holster. They sped to Tim's house and Calleigh went through the house while Eric went around the back. She walked downstairs and found Tim tied to the chair, totally awake. He was murmering something, and shaking his head, probably trying to tell Calleigh not to do it, but Calleigh knew what she had to do.

"No police?" the man Cal recognized as Julien asked.

Calleigh shook her head. "No police," she told him. She stood so that Julien was pointing her gun towards her, but he soon turned his gun towards Tim. Calleigh realized what he was doing and stood in front of him. She lunged towards him, managing to get the gun pointed downwards. She heard a shot fired, but it hit the ground, and luckily missed her foot. She lost her grip, and scratched at him, but when she felt a sharp pain, and heard a gunshot ring out in the air, she gave up. She fell to the ground and heard another shot ring out, and Julien fell to the ground.

Julien had gotten her right in the gut. She was still conscious, but she was bleeding, and coughing up blood. Eric untied Tim so that he could help her, and then went to call 9-1-1. Tim kneeled by her side, tears pouring down his face and onto hers. "Calleigh, stay with me baby please, please Calleigh," he begged.

Calleigh looked up at him, and coughed up blood onto his shirt, then inhaled enough to speak. "Tim, I-" Cal took another breath and then finished. "I love you," she said quickly. Tim nodded and started to cry harder.

"I love you too Calleigh, please, stay with me."

Calleigh paced herself, and took a few deep breaths. "Then why did you push me away?" she asked.

"Because I didn't want something like this to happen. I didn't want you to get hurt, but I didn't do a very good job did I? I'm so sorry Calleigh, just please don't leave me."

Cal shook her head. "Never," she whispered. She reached up a bloody hand for him, and he quickly took it. Eric came back downstairs with a few paramedics, and helped Calleigh up unto the stretcher. They carried her out quickly, and took her away in the ambulance.

Tim and Eric were left behind, devastated. This wasn't supposed to happen. Cal wasn't supposed to get hurt. Tim looked down at his bloody hand while Eric looked behind him at Calleigh's blood pool. Eric sighed and placed his hand on Tim's shoulder. "Come on, let's go get Cal," he said. Tim nodded and went upstairs to wash his hand off and get a new shirt. He also brought Calleigh some clothes, since he knew that she was going to need them. She might have moved out, but she'd left a lot of her stuff there since she'd left in such a hurry. The two then went to Eric's car and drove to the hospital to hear news about Calleigh.

About three hours of waiting, and no report on how Calleigh was doing, Tim and Eric were anxious, and worried. Tim especially. The doctor came out of Calleigh's room and asked the receptionist who was there for Calleigh. When the woman pointed to Eric and Tim, they stood up, and the doctor walked over to them. He didn't look very happy, which wasn't good for Tim and Eric, they were both scared for her.

"Hi, I'm doctor Sheperd, I operated on Calleigh, I have good news and bad news," he told them as he shook their hands. "The good news is that Calleigh is stable. She's awake and alert, the bad news is that she had a massive loss of blood, and she's going to be very tired for the next few days. And with this much trauma comes the emotional factor. She cried at almost every word I told her. She kept asking for Tim," he told them.

Tim nodded a little. "That's me," he said.

"Well I'll leave it up to you two, you can both go in at the same time, or you can take turns, it's up to you," he said, then told them the room that Calleigh had been transported to. The men shook hands again and Eric and Tim headed to the room.

"You go in first man, it's you she wants to see," Eric said as they walked down the hallway.

"Are you sure? I mean, I'm sure she wants to see you too, you probably are to blame for saving her life," Tim answered.

Eric nodded, and stopped at the door. "Just come get me when you're finished, and I'll go see her," Eric said as he sat down in a chair outside the door.

Tim nodded a little and walked in. He winced a little when he saw Cal. She was hooked up to a machine, and she had an IV going into her. He swallowed hard and walked up to his sleeping beauty. He took her hand, which jolted her awake. Her heart rate went up, indicated by the little lines on the screen, and the increase in beeps on the monitor. Tim swallowed hard again and looked up at her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Tim told her.

When Calleigh saw him, tears immediately formed in her eyes. She held out her arms to him, and Tim hugged her gently, as not to hurt her. He whispered small words of comfort into her ear and kissed her cheek and forehead. He hadn't really expected anything less from her. He knew that she was going to cry, and he had to comfort her, and he was doing the best he could. Calleigh was just glad that he was there.

"Are you okay?" Calleigh asked, pulling away to look over him. "He didn't hurt you did he?" Cal asked, remembering the whole thing.

Tim shook his head. "No, but Calleigh, you are hurt, and I never wanted that to happen. I pushed you away because I didn't want you to get hurt, I didn't want to put you in danger's way, that's why I argued with you, I never meant for any of this to happen. I'm so sorry Calleigh."

Cal just shook her head. "No, Tim, I'm glad you're even alive, I couldn't live with myself if I knew that you had been hurt, or worse, and I could have done something to help it. We both have dangerous jobs Tim, this could have happened to me in the line a duty at any time, but I want you Tim. No, I need you in my life. I can't live without you, and pushing me away hurt me more than anything else in the whole world. I love you Tim." Cal said with a shaky breath.

Tim looked down at her with tears in his eyes. He was brought back into the reality of the moment when he felt soft fingertips brushing his tears away. He looked down at her, the angel that she was. She saved his life, and he owed her everything. "Calleigh, marry me," Tim said, bluntly.

Cal looked up at him like he had eight heads. "Tim are you-"

"More sure then I have ever been in my entire life. I love you Calleigh Duquesne, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don't have a ring, and I know this is a really lousy way to propose, but I can't live without you. In that empty apartment, I was never happy. I will never be happy in that apartment by myself, or any other woman in the world. I want you, and only you. You deserve the world Cal, and I promise to do the best I can with what I have. Please Calleigh, don't make me beg," he said hopefully.

Calleigh just smiled and nodded. "Yes, I'll marry you Tim," she told him.

Tim's eyes lit up as he reached down and hugged her, as tightly as he could without hurting her. He reached down and kissed her passionately. Calleigh smiled and pulled away for lack of air. "Can we tell Eric the good news? Is he here?" she asked.

"Of course he is, he wasn't about to leave you," Tim said, as he walked to the door and peeked his head out. A few seconds later, Eric appeared at the door.

"Hey Cal, how are you doing?" he asked, going over to her to kiss her on the cheek.

"Fine, now that Tim and I are engaged," she said.

Eric smiled softly, that was exactly how he wanted to see Calleigh. He wanted to see her happy, with the man she loved, which he knew all along was Tim. Ever since the moment they'd laid eyes on each other, they had been falling over and over for each other. Everyone but Tim and Calleigh knew it. Even Horatio had seen it. Speaking of that man, he was mysteriously standing in the doorway. He'd heard the 911 call made by Eric.

"I hear congratulations are in order," he said with a smirk.

Calleigh was a little dumbfounded, but she smiled anyway. "Thanks H," she said with a soft tone.

It was Horatio's turn to give Calleigh a hug. She felt very loved. Between her new fiancé, her best friend, and her father-like figure, she was one very lucky woman, she had all she ever wanted, her friends, her soon to be family, and happiness.

Calleigh was at her highest. Horatio told her, a few minutes later that they had found the real perp in her case, and the innocent man that Calleigh was forced to put away was now free, and back with his family. Her father was no longer with her, but Horatio promised to walk Calleigh down the isle in place of him, and dance with her in honor of her father. She had everything now. Her family was on their way, she was newly engaged, and her friends were surrounding her. And for the first time in the past few days, they didn't want anything from her, they just wanted her happy, and alive. Calleigh Duquesne cried no longer. 


End file.
